Publication Items

SEJ's comments included suggesting the NRC lose the "minders" that babysit agency people while they talk to reporters and asking that the NRC press operation do its job of keeping reporters and the public apprised of real news.

A big fraction of the leaks and spills involved not merely oil, but produced water containing hydraulic fracturing fluid. You'll find lots of useful data on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website.

Investigative Reporters and Editors brings news of a special Gulf Oil Spill Report put out by the Federal Procurement Data System which lists all federal contracts that the General Services Administration (GSA) knows about.

Every spill report coming in to the NRC goes into a database which is, for the most part, publicly accessible. You can query the database online, or download it for use in your own computer-assisted reporting project.

WDSU, the NBC affiliate in New Orleans (Channel 6), found that BP's highly publicized statement that it is not barring news media from witnessing the cleanup, or its failure, is in fact not true. See video of this and other examples, and get contact info for the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center if you've been denied access.

Deepwater Horizon explosion survivors were detained at sea for 36 to 40 hours and prevented from talking to families or going home until they signed two statements, one that they'd not been injured and the other that they'd not witnessed the explosion.

US EPA withheld information, and twice during the five-day operation BP cut off the mud pumps for long periods without letting the public know, making statements that left the impression the operation was ongoing.